Delco Officials Add Viral Epidemics To Their ‘Safe Schools’ Agenda

DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) — Ebola and enterovirus were in the spotlight at today’s annual Delaware County Safe Schools Summit.

County district attorney Jack Whelan says these deadly illnesses weren’t on the radar when county officials began setting the agenda for this year’s summit.

“We knew that it was an issue,” Whelan said today of the enterovirus D68 outbreak, “but I didn’t expect it to be a top news story and how the disease seems to be progressing and infecting tens of thousands of people.”

A panel discussion focused on lessons learned from the response to Ebola in Dallas, Tex., and the role that teachers and faculty should play in the event of an outbreak here.

“We have posters hanging in the bathrooms, and the teachers review all the time with students that they need to continue to wash their hands. We’ve also provided cleaning products, a spray bottle, and things like that in the classrooms so that teachers can wipe desks down,” she said.